First Female Grevy's Zebra Born at the Cincinnati Zoo

May 31, 2012

Wonder-Foal News for the Zoo!

CINCINNATI – (May 30, 2012) The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has celebrated not one, but two big-baby births during its 26th annual Zoo Babies Celebration! On Wednesday, May 23, at 3:20 p.m., the Zoo’s female Grevy’s Zebra “Lainey Lyn” gave birth to a healthy 103 pound baby girl. This is the second Grevy’s zebra birth in the past three years for the Cincinnati Zoo’s breeding pair, mother “Lainey Lyn” and father “Shewa.” The last birth was male, “Marty,” born in 2009.

“This has been an exciting year for Zoo Babies,” said Thane Maynard, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. “We started with the birth of our Bactrian camel, “Bogart” and we’re ending the month with a beautiful zebra foal. Now, in addition to the beginning of our exciting summer season, folks have another great reason to visit the Cincinnati Zoo.”

Within the first 17 minutes of birth the female foal was standing and slowly began walking. She was nursing within the first hour and has spent the last week bonding with her mom and getting to know the keepers behind the scenes.

Grevy’s zebras are the largest of the zebra species and can grow up to 10 feet long weighing over 1000 pounds. Grevy’s zebras munch on leaves and grass while grazing in their natural habitat of the savannahs and scrublands of Eastern Africa and are known to loosely socialize with other zebras instead of traveling in large herds like common zebras. Baby zebra’s are first light brown instead of white so they can blend in with their surroundings to protect themselves from predators. The typical gestation period of a zebra is thirteen months and they typically only give birth to one foal at a time.